Line 6 Helix Megathread - 2.80 update

[Lain]

AFAIK the buttons are all freely programmable.

 

[FRETPICK]

AFAIK the buttons are all freely programmable.

Thank you.

 

[Kristianx510]

Funny story for you guys and all the people bashing on the Helix already.

So I'm pretty interested in this unit. I liked my POD, hated my Axe FX, and am saving up for a kemper at the moment(just some background). So after reading about the specs on this guy and the features I was pretty much sold. Obviously the last thing I need is to hear how it sounds. Before even seeing the sweet water demo, I was seeing posts on multiple forums and Facebook groups that were along the lines of "this unit sucks. My local shop already has one and it's just another pod HD with some extra features." So I was already a little hesitant. Finally, I called my Line 6 rep while at work and was talking to him about the helix. He gave me tons of awesome info that restored my faith in this thing. Then finally I asked him who has the units already, seeing as my store won't be seeing one until August I wanted to know where I can try it. The rep told me that only ONE unit has been sent out and it was for sweet water to demo it. Besides them, nobody has this thing and nobody has tried it or heard it. So keep that in mind if you see people saying how this thing sounds bad haha.

 

[HighGain510]

TGP's digital forum is full of line6 fanboys though. The amplifi threads were pretty long already.

It's really not though. If you look at the actual posts in the Helix thread, half of them are saying they won't buy it or "X" item doesn't meet their satisfaction or the sound quality isn't there (which they can tell from the 3-4 YOUTUBE DEMOS that have surfaced so far? Right.... ) and historically, Line 6 gets bashed pretty hard on TGP.

It usually is, though. I got a .... ton of angry pm's for trash talking the Amplifi.
The people trash talking Line6 there are usually the same few.
The main helix post is full of people already talking about buying it.

My guess is that if you got angry PM's from people it was probably less about what you said but more about how you say it. Folks on that forum tend to go overboard when people are overly abrasive/offensive in their posts, so if you posted like a dick they won't hesitate to call you on it there.


Also I thought this post from Digital Igloo over on TGP was pretty interesting and applicable to the Helix thread but due to the rules I know if he tried to post it himself he'd get his hand smacked again, so I figured I'd share it since he's talking about how Helix was developed when someone asked about the Helix team and development of the product:

Hmmm... What could I say that won't be picked apart, taken out of context, and criticized by everyone and their mom? Probably nothing, but here goes anyway:


The first conversations about what would become Helix took place in October of 2008. Things didn't really start ramping up until 2011, so yeah—Helix began active development before Firehawk, AMPLIFi, or even HD500X. The popular notion that "Line 6 gave up on the professional guitarist" didn't escape us; we just had to keep things secret.

Because it's taken so long to create the HX architecture and model set (some HX amp models took as much as a man-month to create), the design team spent a LOT of time and effort to understand what our customers like and dislike about Line 6 gear... and non-Line 6 gear. We ended up finding most of our inspiration outside of MI—car dashboards, smartphones, video games, installation art, Disneyland... We tested Helix's interaction extensively, and changed a metric ton over the years because of it. A tester or engineer might say "DI, are you okay with this particular feature?", and the resulting conversation would generate a complete redesign of that feature. Everyone had a voice, and Helix is quite literally the brainchild of dozens of Line 6ers and thousands of Line 6 customers (from backstage conversations, interviews, surveys, emails, IdeaScale, the Line 6 forums, TGP, GearSlutz, SevenString, etc.).

Three concepts drove the UI/UX team:
A non-insignificant portion of a box's perceived sound quality is intrinsically tied to its ease and speed of operation; if the engine and models already sound fantastic, imagine being able to dial in the sound in your head almost as fast as you can think it. Your tones end up sounding better.
Up until recently, the process of making tones hasn't been fun. Normally, tweaking is a means to an end—"I have to duplicate [artist]'s solo patch," "I need to dial these tones in for the gig on Friday," etc. I've always been sort of jealous of synth geeks, who seem to have just as much fun (or more fun) making sounds as they do playing them. Full disclosure: I'm also a synth geek, but don't have time for it lately.
As a popular art form, the guitar is dying, and that's in part because guitarists generally dismiss new and interesting sounds. We wanted a platform that might push a traditional musician to experiment more and push an experimental musician to go completely, unabashedly bug-nuts.
If it seems like I focus too much on the usability of things, that's because it's what my job entails. As for Helix's sound quality, we'll be sharing more clips over the coming weeks. Yes, even metal ones.

 

[Lain]

Well, i read the first 10 pages and there were 2 comments saying "Not gonna fall for Line6 propaganda again" and the rest was like "Is this the best thing that ever happened?" and "OMG PREORDERED!"
I only read the first 10 pages and had enough already. Maybe the bashing starts after that.

My guess is that if you got angry PM's from people it was probably less about what you said but more about how you say it.

Yeah, maybe. I trolled pretty much there.

 

[HighGain510]

Well, i read the first 10 pages and there were 2 comments saying "Not gonna fall for Line6 propaganda again" and the rest was like "Is this the best thing that ever happened?" and "OMG PREORDERED!"
I only read the first 10 pages and had enough already. Maybe the bashing starts after that.


Yeah, maybe. I trolled pretty much there.

The thread is almost 100 pages long. Yes, you did not read much of the content there. There are several Fractal fanboys that have continued dropping in to parrot the same issues/grievances they have with the device (compared to features the Axe has, of course) over and over or the guys who have written off the unit completely without even trying it or hearing more than a few snippets of tone through the sparse demos we've seen thus far.

I'm no Line 6 fan to be honest, I've struggled to get tones I REALLY liked from the POD series over the various generations. With tweaking I had some I didn't mind but nothing that ever made me go "WOW! That sounds GREAT!" by any means. I think from a user interface perspective alone the Helix looks well thought out and the controller and screen look substantially better than the competition, but I'm still reserving judgement until I get to pick one up and hear it through my CLR. I'm totally open to having this thing change my mind on TONES from Line 6, so it's really up to them as far as quality of modeling now. The UI looks killer, but if the tone sucks? Game over man, game over.

 

[SnoozyWyrm]

Taking its price point into account and its readily availability, how bad does it (the Helix) have to sound for people not to buy it? From my perspective they already won the race. Unless Line 6 threw money into a 7 year project directed by tone-deaf people.

By "won the race" I mean their sales will surpass Fractal and Kemper sales combined in the near future of the release.

 

[Carcaridon]

Taking its price point into account and its readily availability, how bad does it (the Helix) have to sound for people not to buy it? From my perspective they already won the race. Unless Line 6 threw money into a 7 year project directed by tone-deaf people.

By "won the race" I mean their sales will surpass Fractal and Kemper sales combined in the near future of the release.

I kinda have to agree with this. Price and availability will play a huge part in sales. Line 6 has a pretty good market share of the lower end effects area. It also doesn't hurt that they're in every big box guitar store. I've been eyeing a Kemper and I couldn't find one in stock anywhere around me, and I live 40 miles from LA.

 

[mongey]

Taking its price point into account and its readily availability, how bad does it (the Helix) have to sound for people not to buy it? From my perspective they already won the race. Unless Line 6 threw money into a 7 year project directed by tone-deaf people.

By "won the race" I mean their sales will surpass Fractal and Kemper sales combined in the near future of the release.

Agree. There are also a large chunk of musicans who don't go to gear forums and have never heard of fractal or Kemper.

It could sound exactly the same as the HD series and they will still out sell the others. Will it be on the same level as the others ? We won't know till it hits the streets.

 

[Lain]

over and over or the guys who have written off the unit completely without even trying it or hearing more than a few snippets of tone through the sparse demos we've seen thus far.

It works both ways though, doesn't it?
And yeah. When out of 200 posts there are only 2 people talking negative, i can pretty much assume that the forum is full of fanboys. That's pretty much 1%. Maybe it switched around at page 60 or whatever but you can't blame anyone for not wanting to read 100 pages of brainfarts.

By "won the race" I mean their sales will surpass Fractal and Kemper sales combined in the near future of the release.

Always. No matter what they release.
They got an unique position in the digital modeling market....

 

[HighGain510]

It works both ways though, doesn't it?
And yeah. When out of 200 posts there are only 2 people talking negative, i can pretty much assume that the forum is full of fanboys. That's pretty much 1%. Maybe it switched around at page 60 or whatever but you can't blame anyone for not wanting to read 100 pages of brainfarts.

No, that's not really how that works. That would be a closed-minded assumption made off of plain laziness on your part. That forum is HUGE (their member base is drastically bigger than SSO), so assuming from 200 posts that you have confirmed a bias in an ENTIRE FORUM is nonsensical. Believe what you want, but I've been a member there for even longer than I have been here, and I have not come to the same conclusion you have. Then again, I also don't get angry PM's from members there nor do I troll forums as you're admitting you do, so I'm guessing there is a bit of a difference already in your own personal bias.

 

[TasmanSam]

I reckon I will sell my kemper for one of these. The form factor of the pedalboard would allow me to have a 3 case live setup (pedal, cab, guitar) which will be awesome for quick stage changeovers and flying. It has a 5150 model so i am set for distorted tones and the IO allows me to do some cool things that I previously couldn't do with the kemper (like independent signal chains, looper tricks etc). Plus the USB interface would mean I can get rid of more stuff on my desk and use the line 6 as a 1-stop-shop for everything I need to do. I only do demo's at home now anyway so this is perfect, and with external IR compatibility I am confident I can get great sounds out of it. Consider me keen!

 

[Ps43203]

I wish I could hear more of it, before I can make a clear observation. The Amp list is kinda the usual suspects, which, makes me leery. Line 6 has disappointed me before, so it will be, what it will be. I need more demo's, in the room too, please. I don't care what it does, if it sounds lack luster, then why bother.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

I don't know why everyone is freaking out about clips, this is a Line 6 product, every Guitar Center, Sam Ash, and the like will have these in stock to try out in person.

Say what you will about Line 6, but they're pretty great at getting tester displays out to dealers.

 

[asher]

I don't know why everyone is freaking out about clips, this is a Line 6 product, every Guitar Center, Sam Ash, and the like will have these in stock to try out in person.

Say what you will about Line 6, but they're pretty great at getting tester displays out to dealers.

But we want to hear them now so we can decide without actual proper testing if they suck or not.

 

[jbealsmusic]

I don't know why everyone is freaking out about clips, this is a Line 6 product, every Guitar Center, Sam Ash, and the like will have these in stock to try out in person.

Say what you will about Line 6, but they're pretty great at getting tester displays out to dealers.

Unless you live in Canada.

But we want to hear them now so we can decide without actual proper testing if they suck or not.

Or... We live somewhere where the local retailers most likely won't carry any in stock.

 

[Ps43203]

I sold all my gear already to get one and have been jerking it every night to sweetwater's plexi rendidtion. Still cream every time, the axe-fx sux compared to this thing, I'm amazed,lol. Just being dick y'all, like to keep things humorous, ya know meng?
I live near Buffalo, the guitar Center nearby has NOTHING new, guitar gear, related. Just $3k PRS, and Gibson's, and then used and cheap CRAP, ughh.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Unless you live in Canada.

Or... We live somewhere where the local retailers most likely won't carry any in stock.

I find it very hard to believe that none of the nearly 100 authorized Line 6 dealers in Canada will attempt to carry thier newest, most high-end product that they're positioning to be their flagship.

 

[Spinedriver]

Unless you live in Canada.

Or... We live somewhere where the local retailers most likely won't carry any in stock.

I can't speak for the smaller stores but I guarantee than Long & McQuade will have them in. Mind you, they do have smaller satellite stores here & there but the town I like in is about 1/10th the size of Toronto and they had the HD500 very soon after it's launch. When it comes to price, the sales floor is full of Mesa gear that costs well over $2K, so they won't be not getting them in because they're too expensive. The only problem that I can see is that they might only have 1 or 2 in stock, so there's a possibility that when you go, you might have to wait for one to come back in before you can try it out.

 

[Lain]

No, that's not really how that works. That would be a closed-minded assumption made off of plain laziness on your part. That forum is HUGE (their member base is drastically bigger than SSO), so assuming from 200 posts that you have confirmed a bias in an ENTIRE FORUM is nonsensical. Believe what you want, but I've been a member there for even longer than I have been here, and I have not come to the same conclusion you have. Then again, I also don't get angry PM's from members there nor do I troll forums as you're admitting you do, so I'm guessing there is a bit of a difference already in your own personal bias.

Wow, hang on there. You shouldn't complain about "assumptions" while you keep making them. Nor should you imply close-mindedness. I didn't even say half of the stuff you say about me. C'mon man.
1. I am not assuming it from 200 posts.
2. I am not even assuming it from that single thread.
3. I am saying that after being on that forum for years.
4. I did not talk about an "ENTIRE FORUM".
5. I really doubt that you can guess what my personal bias is.

You came to a different conclusion than i have, that's fine. But that doesn't mean you are correct.
And my point that it works both ways still stands.
Bashing a product you know nothing about is just as dumb as praising a product you know nothing about. Or even worse, paying 1500$ for it.